Kurdish Protests Against Assad

The Syrian protests have threatened the Assad regime since March, with the Kurdish minority playing a significant role in the protests. Despite sluggish support from the Kurdish leadership, Kurdish youth gathered in the thousands on a regular basis in the Kurdish majority regions of northern Syria. On Friday, 7 October, the Syrian regime assassinated a prominent Kurdish activist and a member of the Syrian National Council, Meshaal Tamo. In reaction, hundreds of thousands of Kurds and Arabs rallied in the streets in solidarity. His death marks a new stage in the Kurdish involvement with the protests against Assad.